Halos
Prince Halos Elysia (or merely Halos / Prince Halos) is a supporting protagonist. He is the Prince of Esperanza, as chosen (and adopted) by Empress Aralita, but he has more than a few misgivings about the Esperanzan Empire, passionately believing the Empire's ways will lead to ruin, corruption, and disaster. His character color is cyan / turquoise. Etymology "Halos" is derived from the word halo (which in itself is halōs ''in Greek), which generally means: "a disk or ring of light", and halos are typically shown above the head of a saintly or holy person, or angels; this fits in well with Halos' angel-centric imagery. A halo is also an optical phenomenon where a circle or disk of light appears around the sun or moon, due to ice crystals being refracted through the atmosphere. Since Esperanza is generally considered the nation of the sun (due to its phoenix-centered imagery), we can assume that Halos himself ''is the ring of light around Esperanza. Halos also sounds quite a lot like hail, i.e. hail to the prince; this is not lost in translation, given Flacara's nickname for him: Hail. This is also befitting of Halos' water and ice element. Halos' code name, "Diamond", comes from diamond dust, surface-level ice crystals typically associated with halos themselves. This creates another connection with "Hail", which are frozen, icy rain bits that fall in showers from the sky, so it's a combination of Halos' two elements, water and ice. "Elysia" is derived from the Elysian Fields, the heavenly paradise and resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous in Greek mythology and religion, which furthers Halos' heaven-and-angel-related imagery and motifs, given that the Elysian Fields are considered a parallel to Heaven. Personality Halos is a very conflicted young man at heart. As the Crowned Prince of Esperanza (or the Chosen One), Halos takes his royal status and destiny very seriously, and he styles himself in the image of an immaculate young prince as a result: well-dressed, tidy, poised, and well-spoken, armed with a decisive, authoritative facade. But on the other side, it's clear that Halos has become disillusioned with Esperanza, to the point where his status as a Prince simultaneously validates him and depresses him, rendering him somewhat bitter. Halos likes to not only feel needed, he likes to feel important, likes to have a very definitive say in matters because he is the Prince of Esperanza; while this renders him somewhat entitled, it's easy to see where his anger stems from. More often than not, Halos is merely treated as a figurehead, and Aralita locks him out of important decision-making and politics more often than not, in addition to keeping an enormous host of secrets from him. Halos has started to believe his royal title is more appearance than it is ideology or power. A more content, relaxed, perhaps lazy royal would be okay with this; Halos, however, is passionate and impatient, driven by his ideals and knowledge and desire to change the world around him and immensely frustrated at not having a decent outlet to exercise his idealistic muscles. Halos is honorable, chivalrous, thoughtful, sensitive, and remarkably smart, a romanticist at heart. He is also intense, impatient, quick to judge, and burdened by a still-festering royalty complex; there is a strong disconnect between Halos' social status (incredibly high) and his say in matters of society (not so high at all), which brings him pain. Halos can unintentionally be callous or insensitive when in a foul mood, no doubt due to all of his repressed anger. He is also quite insecure; although he has many ideals and policies he's dreamt about implementing into the system when he becomes Emperor (or ideally even before that), he has no idea how to go about, and his sphere of influence is only exercised over a handful of people because he isn't sure how or when to approach other higher-ups about what he wants. This makes Halos indecisive, at least initially. When Halos does take matters into his own hands and sets his mind to something, however, his true talents as a politician and a princely figure shine through. Every now and then, he will throw his title around to achieve something, or coerce someone into doing something he desires, and he proves to be a very effective, punctual speaker. Halos is also remarkably good at covering his tracks, having inherited his Mother's subtlety, which makes it far easier for him when he ultimately turns against Esperanza and begins working to find a way to change it from the inside. Over time, he gains more confidence in himself, becomes more decisive, and becomes far more worldly and knowledgeable as a result; Halos grew up a sheltered aristocrat, only seeing the world through the narrow scope of the Esperanzan capital city, and thus begins the story a lot more idealistic and starry-eyed than the other members of the cast. Being Esperanzan by birth, Halos is a Phoenician, but not a particularly devout or zealous one; he is somewhat in the middle (another point of controversy for him among other Esperanzans). His interests include politics, painting, fencing, horseback riding, ping-pong, chess, theater / acting, and fashion. Halos is fond of donning disguises so that he can slip out of the palace and into the downtown district, so that he can observe and sometimes experience how commoners live. Trivia * Halos' date of birth, February 2nd, 2046 (2/2/46), is a reference to both the 22° halo and the rarer 46° halo. This date of birth also makes Halos an Aquarius, which fits with his aqua-like character color. This also relates to Halos' primary character element: water. ** In addition, Halos is the Prince of Esperanza ("Hope") and an Aquarius, much like Eridan Ampora, a character from Homestuck also known as the Prince of Hope. The similarities seem to end there, however, given Eridan's genocidal tendencies. * Halos has more than a few similarities to Prince Enrique from the Dreamcast video game Skies of Arcadia. Both of them are the heirs to the throne of a technologically-advanced, seemingly evil empire, both of them are dissatisfied with their countries' ways, both of them actively try to change things for the better, and both of them have constant clashes with their respective mothers (Empress Teodora for Enrique, Aralita for Halos); in addition, both of them get involved with a group that opposes the empire as a way to further their agenda of changing the empire for the better (Enrique associates with The Blue Rogues, and Halos associates with the revolutionaries). They are both also active fencers. The similarities are likely intentional. * Navarro was the one that taught Halos both martial arts and fencing. Navarro's last name, Destreza (pronounced day-trayza or day-trehza), refers to an old style of European Spanish fencing. ** Fencing was also prominent in Hamlet. Halos' princely nature, scheming tendencies, deceased parent(s), and complicated animosity towards his Mother are all qualities Hamlet shared. Halos' tendency to "unpack [his heart with words]" is a reference to Hamlet. * In a letter that Halos receives from Flacara, she urges him to "keep it clean" on one of his personal missions. This is a reference to the Halo 3: ODST trailer, and an achievement in Halo Reach. * When Halos gets into contact with Viola, their personal, comm-only code names are Diamond and Pearl respectively. Not only does this fit with their colors, another prince once utilized these names. * When asked what he wants, Halos responds: "what no man can provide; a miracle", a quote by Prince Feisal from Lawrence of Arabia.